“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. Indeed, by faith we understand the worlds were prepared by the word of God [Elohim], so what is seen was made from things that are not visible” (Hebrews 11:1-3).

There is faith, emunah, and there is knowledge, da’at, and there is something to be understood concerning faith and knowledge, these two spiritual powers through which the soul ascends from grade to grade, unfolding a greater and greater realization or enlightenment. As we know, Da’at on the Tree of Life corresponds with what is revealed of Keter, or the Supernals (Keter-Hokmah-Binah), and this alludes to the nature of knowledge, da’at in us; it is all that has been revealed and is therefore known to us of the mysteries of creation and God, and of the Supernals. Then there is faith, which is an intuitive intelligence, that is able to reach into things that are unseen and hidden, into things that are concealed, invoking, as it were, greater revelation and realization, and in this regard we may say that faith, emunah, is greater than knowledge, for it reaches into the immeasurable depths of the mysteries, and reaches into Atzilut, and reaches into the Supernals, even into the interiors of the Supernal Crown, Arik Anpin and Atik Yomin.

In this you may understand that faith is a great spiritual power, and that it is an intuitive intelligence in us, something much more than an idle or vain vital sentiment or conceptual belief, and that through faith comes an ever greater revelation, and an ever greater knowledge, understanding and wisdom, or enlightenment. Faith, by nature, reaches beyond the mental sphere into the spiritual and supernal, or supramental, and invokes great movements of the Spirit of God (Ruach Elohim) in revelation of the mysteries, as well as bringing about wonders, healings, prophecy and the like, all manner of spiritual gifts, or manifestations of the Spirit.

Faith is, indeed, an intuitive intelligence, the intelligence of the heart and the soul within us, but it is something more, something for which there are no words, but that having an open heart and faith something we experience. As we know, Binah, the interior Shekinah, is called the “parent of faith,” and Malkut, the exterior Shekinah, is called “faith” - emunah; this is because faith is a connecting power the unifies our soul, and our person and life, with the Holy Shekinah and with the Spirit of God, and it is faith that forms the “circuit,” as it were, through which the Spirit, or spiritual energy, power, of the Holy Sefirot flows and becomes manifest in this world; hence, faith as the power to “move mountains.”

As an attribute of Malkut, the outer most Sefirah, it is through faith that we are able to reach into the upper Sefirot to cleave and to unify our soul with them, and so invoke direct influxes of the Holy Sefirot - the Divine Attributes; and likewise, able to reach into the heavens and invoke angels to have knowledge and conversation with them, and to invoke blessings from the heavens.

As an intuitive intelligence and a connecting power it is through faith that we are aware of the Holy Shekinah and Spirit of God moving within and behind what transpires, as well as are able to be aware of the various spiritual forces moving within and behind what transpires and to discern between divine, archonic and demonic forces, and therefore be able to separate good from evil, and to follow in the way of what is good and true - righteous. Thus, to those who live according to their faith it is accounted to them as righteousness, certainly so!

Understanding faith in this way, so we may understand that in spirituality faith is everything, and likewise we may understand that, indeed, we are saved through faith, though not in the sense of a vital or conceptual belief in dogmatic doctrines of manmade religion, but rather through the experiential knowledge, understanding and wisdom faith brings, or the enlightenment and liberation of the soul faith brings.

In closing we can say this. As a connecting power, love is the natural fruit of faith, the awareness of interconnectivity - Sacred Unity underlying all things, and yearning for the realization of the most intimate communion with the Holy One, a full and conscious union with the Eternal God (Yahweh Elohim).

This is a contemplation stirring in me today that the Spirit would have me share.

O Holy One we pray, bless us so that our faith might mature and bear the good fruits of all Your Divine Attributes in us, the fullness of Your Spirit embodied! Amen.

This post has given me a new understanding of the meaning of faith, Praise God!

"Understanding faith in this way, so we may understand that in spirituality faith is everything, and likewise we may understand that, indeed, we are saved through faith, though not in the sense of a vital or conceptual belief in dogmatic doctrines of manmade religion, but rather through the experiential knowledge, understanding and wisdom faith brings, or the enlightenment and liberation of the soul faith brings."

"In closing we can say this. As a connecting power, love is the natural fruit of faith, the awareness of interconnectivity - Sacred Unity underlying all things, and yearning for the realization of the most intimate communion with the Holy One, a full and conscious union with the Eternal God (Yahweh Elohim)."

Coming from the "outside church" or manmade, fundamental religion and dogma; this really spoke to my heart. It seems that my understanding of faith was very much wrapped up in the dogma of the written words about faith recorded in the Bible, which were powerful in themselves. Now, with this post I am hearing a shift from outward faith to inward faith. Faith being the enlightenment and liberation of the soul, an actual experience of the soul.

A new contemplation arose while hearing this shift in consciousness today. Can we connect this inwardness of faith to the meaning of "the Word becoming flesh?" It seems that there is a difference from hearing the words about faith to that of actually "becoming" this faith. Faith being more of a verb, of doing....not just believing. Yeshua was one with the Father through his faith. As he prayed to the Father for us to be one with the Father also as He is, I am hearing this interconnectedness and yearning for intimate communion with the Holy One, and Yeshua's desire that all my have this connection.

If we look into the Letter to the Hebrews, faith is something lived, faith is the guiding principle of the Life Divine, and in the Letter of St. James we are taught that if we have faith, will will have works, actions, that arise from faith, and that are the manifestation of faith; certainly so! Faith is a state of being, and as such, doing, the expression of faith and love, devotion to the truth and light, living it, enacting it, embodying it - the “word of God becoming flesh.” This is taken up in all aspects of life, material and spiritual, mundane and sacred, so that in everything we live according to our faith, act according to our faith, and as we are taught in Hebrews, this is accounted to us as righteousness - it is the way of tzaddikim, righteous ones.

Faith, as a intuitive intelligence and connecting power, leads to enlightenment, but that assumes that we live according to the hidden truth and light we intuit, and according to the truth and light that is revealed to us, and that we cleave to the Shekinah and Holy One, merging with the Holy Light and Spirit of God within and around us, embodying that Spirit in our thoughts, words and deeds, and our very flesh, in all that we do; and we are here to take action in all areas of life, enacting the will of the Lord, laboring for the good of the people and of souls in every possible way. In anything, if we withhold ourselves from action, that too is an action, and we must consider whether or not the Lord is served in it. Thus, in faith, having the intelligence of the heart, when the Spirit moves we move, when the Spirit is still we are still, and we seek to do what the Spirit is doing, what God wills, not our own will.

In the fullness of faith, in maturation of faith, in action, in doing, we are no longer the doer, but the Messiah and Holy Spirit in us is the doer of all actions, all works.

Now faith is everything in spirituality, for everything spiritual is acquired only through faith, the reception of all spiritual gifts, powers of the Spirit, come through faith, and likewise, all wisdom, understanding and knowledge, and so also the light transmission and imparting of the da’at and ruach of tzaddikim; unless a person has faith, they can receive nothing in prayer and meditation, and nothing from tzaddikim - all that is given and received comes through faith, and more so through faith and love.

Truly, faith is the beginning of everything in the spiritual life, it is the foundation of the spiritual life and practice.

With Elizabeth, I too am most grateful to hear this relationship of faith and knowledge in a new way. I never imagined that faith reached beyond what was revealed into what is concealed:

As we know, Da’at on the Tree of Life corresponds with what is revealed of Keter, or the Supernals (Keter-Hokmah-Binah), and this alludes to the nature of knowledge, da’at in us; it is all that has been revealed and is therefore known to us of the mysteries of creation and God, and of the Supernals. Then there is faith, which is an intuitive intelligence, that is able to reach into things that are unseen and hidden, into things that are concealed, invoking, as it were, greater revelation and realization, and in this regard we may say that faith, emunah, is greater than knowledge, for it reaches into the immeasurable depths of the mysteries, and reaches into Atzilut, and reaches into the Supernals, even into the interiors of the Supernal Crown, Arik Anpin and Atik Yomin.

What is revealed as Da'at can be further penetrated by faith. The Apostle writing to the Hebrews makes a beautiful analogy of this by way of the curtain enclosing the Holy of Holies: We have this hope, a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters the inner shrine behind the curtain, where Jesus, a forerunner on our behalf, has entered, having become a high priest for ever according to the order of Melchizedek (6:19-20).

The crown of Yeshua is his Da'at, through faith in whom we have access beyond into what is yet to be revealed. This imagery is all the more enriched when we remember that beyond the place of Da'at, being the Veil of the Abyss, is everything Supernal. For the first time, I'm hearing that the curtain before the Holy of Holies is something of this Veil of the Abyss—cosmic consciousness—which faith alone can surpass. How often you've taught that the reality of the Abyss is all manifesting as one expects. This emphasizes that much more that one expects from faith.

Rabbi Nachman in his Likutey Moharan had something outstanding to say regarding how faith generates deeper revelations: "A person's faith must be extremely strong, such that it expends out into all of their limbs. Then, through this faith, they will eventually arrive at intellectual understanding. In other words, the thing which they initially had to believe in—because they did not understand it—they subsequently merit to understand with their intellect. Afterward, however, there are yet higher things which they are unable to understand intellectually. Then they must fortify themselves further in their faith to believe in that which they do not yet understand with their intellect, until they also merit to comprehend these things; and so the process continues forever" (Lesson 91).

I'm very inspired by these principles, renewed by the power of how faith alone can continue where mental being must cease.

May in these constricting times faith grow for the remnant, guiding their endurance.

It needs to be said, Da’at is not the Veil of the Abyss, though the Veil of the Abyss corresponds with Da’at; the Veil of the Abyss is the klippah of Da’at, an impure emanation of Da’at - Klippah Nogah. There are no klippot of the Sefirot of Atzilut, or in Atzilut, but the klippot of the Sefirot arise in Beriyah, and the greater klippot in Yetzirah and Asiyah. Thus, the klippah of Da’at, “Veil of the Abyss,” corresponds with Da’at of Beriyah, which flows out of Yesod of Atzilut on the Great Tree of Life.

In that Keter never appears in an Olam-Universe, but it is Da’at that appearers, Da’at is counted among the Supernals, Da’at is what is revealed of Keter-Ain; hence the Supernals, Habad (Hokmah-Binah-Da’at). There is a great mystery of emunah-faith, though, as a reaching into the Supernals, Keter-Hokmah-Binah, reaching into Keter, generating a greater manifestation of Da’at, greater revelation, and therefore greater realization.

Consider this. Before the coming of the Messiah, though there was a touching into the supernal, supramental consciousness, through faith, there was no realization and embodiment of the supernal, supramental consciousness - Messianic Consciousness; but then, through a greater manifestation of faith there was a stirring, and a greater revelation, and so a greater realization with Messiah Yeshua, greater Da’at, Da’at of Atzilut, Habad of Atzilut. Praise God!

This realization is now present for all who are willing, all who desire and are able to receive this da’at and ruach of the Messiah and Anointed Tzaddikim.

So, then, penetrating, parting, the veils of the holy of holies, this is a stirring of a greater revelation, and therefore a greater potential realization, certainly so! Praise God (El), the merciful, compassionate and gracious One!

So, now, the veil before the holy or holies, this is religion, manmade, blind leading the blind, not having direct spiritual and mystical experience, not having revelation and realization; true faith, this intuitive intelligence, this power of connectivity, leads beyond religion into mysticism, a spirituality of direct experience and communion, it raises the dead to life, making a seeker one who has found - one who knows and understands, and is wise. In truth, many who claim to be faithful have little faith. Read the gospels! How many times does Adonai Yeshua say to the religious, “Oh you of little faith, how long do I have to put up with you!” There is, in fact, a deeper faith, and it is this that is called a “gift of the Holy Spirit,” a manifestation of the Holy Spirit.

There are those who come seeking light transmission, but who cannot receive it - they have no faith, or little faith. Ironically, some of these then go out proclaiming to have it and give it - most often for a price! God help them! They cannot receive because they have no faith, and if they cannot receive, they cannot give; understand, the power to give is also a manifestation of faith, great faith! May God have mercy on the faithless, may God have mercy on us!

Pierce the veil of the holy of holies, penetrate the inmost Holy Sanctuary? This is the working of faith, the power of faith, and in this is discerned faithlessness and faith, wickedness and righteousness, good and evil, certainly so!

Remember, faith is an intuitive intelligence, awareness of the inwardness of things and what is moving within and behind things, and so brings knowledge, da’at, and understanding, binah, and wisdom, hokmah.

Faith is a great spiritual gift, a great spiritual power!

There is more that can be said, but here I must be silent; may God’s will be done! Amen.

Your clarification of the Veil of the Abyss as the qlippah of Da'at is so helpful! This explains so many points regarding the barrier of cosmic consciousness: how it is not full unification with the Eternal: how it is as a "glass ceiling" of enlightenment: how the soul has not yet completely self-nullified, but retains the distinction that prohibits merger.

I now hear Rabbi Nachman differently when he spoke of atheistic philosophy, for his nineteenth century Europe saw the beginnings of what is now our time, completely dismantled of any integrated worldview. It seems to be this very qlippah which he calls in the Likutey Moharan the Vacated Space—God's constriction in tzimtzum—beyond which cognition cannot inquire. Perhaps the most subtle layer in this qlippah is precisely what so many philosophers returning from this precipice have come back to say,"There's nothing." This is completely true of the qlippah of Da'at.

Beyond what is "nothing" for the faithless is revelation for the faithful: "Only in the future will answers to these questions be revealed, since then the mystery of how God 'withdrew' or 'contracted' Himself to produce the Vacated Space will be revealed. [...] Only the Jewish people, through their faith, transcend all the philosophical inquiries and paradoxes that are in the world, because they believe in God and in His holy Torah without any inquiry or logic at all, but rather, with perfect faith. For this reason, the Jewish people are called IVRi'im (Hebrews), because with their faith, they go beyond (OVeR) and transcend all types of inquiries and logical analyses. They have no need whatsoever to inquire, because they know the real truth through their perfect faith, and they believe in the truth as we received it from our holy ancestors and sages" (Lesson 64).

You speak, Tau, of the cessation necessary for the Supernal breakthrough. Specifically, I mean the drawing inward and upward all of one's energy to their brow to abide in faith. We see in biblical narratives how great prophets such as Ezekiel and Elijah had to endure subtler and subtler barriers, even qlippah nogah, for their faith to finally break through into a new revelation. It occurs to me in a whole new light that one's faith before such an expansive, even overpowering barrier, is anchored in one's devotion to their Tzaddik. This is critical and all-important, for what flips the qlippah of Da'at is the inmost dimension of one's foundation: Yesod of Atzilut. Suddenly very new in my hearing, is how faith in the habad of Tzaddik may ultimately allow a soul's reach through the qlippah of Da'at into Yesod of Atzilut.

Faith in God is grounded by faith in Tzaddik and Anointed Community. We literally need these examples if our faith is to grow to able to push through and endure the most subtle barriers to new revelations. This opens up new questions for me to contemplate of the Supernal sanctuary of grace figured by Holy Tzaddik and Anointed Community. Tzaddik is the foundation of faith. I'm so grateful to see how directly faith in these is faith in God, able to enter behind the curtain.

The teachings on faith offered in this thread have been delightful to contemplate, with a question arising, if I might pose it here.

Can we say that the piercing of the veil, the reaching of the soul through the klippot of Da'at, is an inward movement of faith? Previously, outward movements of faith have been discussed as the works that arise from true faith, and it comes to mind that the inward movement of faith is reaching and not reaching until there is reaching.

Is faith the energy behind our poking, our probing, our seeking, for increasing knowledge, as well as wisdom and understanding? Perhaps we can say that it is not simply faith that is the energy behind our inward seeking, but faith, hope and love?

I have not read the post since my last teaching, but this is a further teaching on this mystery of faith set into my heart during a journey today, and I'll post it as is, and see how it might relate and interact with what's been posted since. What was set into my heart was this:

There is something more to be said of faith and knowledge, something to be said of faith and the realization of the soul.

Listen and hear, and understand! Faith is the intelligence of the heart, and ruach, our human and divine intelligence, is centered in our heart, and through ruach we are able to reach into neshamah, our divine nature; faith, emunah, is how we reach into our ruach, and actualize and realize ruach, first, our true human intelligence, a higher mind, intellect, and then a greater intelligence, the divine intelligence that is within is, the intelligence of our inner being - inner tzaddik and the indwelling Messiah. Thus, truly, not as a vital sentiment, nor conceptual belief, faith is inseparable form intelligence, ruach, but through faith we are able to access something more, something beyond ruach, reaching into neshamah, our divine nature, or our heavenly and supernal soul.

As as know, there is nefesh-ruach-neshamah, and these naturally are p’nimi, internal to us, and are swiftly brought forth and realized, more or less, as we turn to the Holy One receive our anointing, and live the spiritual life in faith and love; such is the power of the Sanctuary of Grace in the Messiah if we will enact a dynamic surrender to Divine Grace, the Holy Spirit, though the realization of neshamah does require the good works of faith, and the struggle, striving, to live according to our faith, certainly so! In this it may be said, “it is simple, but not easy,” it can be swift, but it will require a great effort, great passion, and complete self-offering, but all of this is possible for us in this life, if we have faith and love.

There is something more, however, that can come through faith, through passionate faith and love - devotion. There are those aspects of the soul that are transcendent, encircling, or makifin, yechidah-hayyah, and as an intuitive intelligence, faith, emunah, is a power that allows us to access these inmost aspects of our soul, and draw into us their light and life, and the corresponding grades of consciousness and intelligence; and here we may say that hayyah corresponds with a greater supernal and primordial intelligence (mochin), the Perfect Thunder Intelligence.

Faith reaches into things unseen, invisible, hidden, concealed, and so it is with aspects of the soul, so that a person of true faith, passionate faith, mature faith, through faith may draw in the light and life of those inner aspects of the soul beyond, and realize and embody them through Divine Grace, the Spirit of God (Ruach Elohim, Ruach Yahweh), certainly so! Praise God!

Truly, through faith we are “saved,” through faith the greater fullness of our soul is actualized and realized, and embodied; faith creating the condition necessary for the full action of Divine Grace, the Holy Spirit, which completes and perfects our soul.

If through faith we may reach into Keter, the Supernal Crown, so also our yechidah, our divine spark, our unique essence, and the radiance of that holy spark of the Infinite, our living essence, hayyah, may shine from within us; through faith radical leaps in the evolution and realization of the soul in the Messiah are possible, radical transformations of consciousness, and even radical transformations of the flesh - hence, the potential of divine rapture. It is all a matter of faith, emunah.

Consider this. Emunah, faith, is Malkut-Kingdom, the Holy Shekinah; and as we know, the Messiah is the kingdom of heaven - hence, the Messiah is one who is perfect in emunah, faith. Such is the true power of faith, “moving mountains” is a little nothing, for in the fullness of faith, reaching into yechidah (I Am), we are unified with the kingdom of heaven, the Messiah - the Anointing, the Holy Light and Spirit of God. Praise God, the merciful and compassionate, the Almighty, Shaddai! Amen.

These contemplations and teachings have been with me this week at work, very much so! Thank you all for sharing. What is really new to my hearing and my understanding is what Tau Malachi has shared regarding "Faith, emunah, is the Holy Shekinah; and the Kingdom of God is the Messiah. That is opening even greater knowledge if you will with the Gospel of Thomas and the Gospels in the Bible when our brother Yeshua states " The Kingdom of God is within you"

It also reminds that Binah is often called "Faithful Faith" Binah, being the upper Shekinah. The term "Faithful Faith" is curious to me. It reminds of giving and recieving. Is there more that can be shared regarding this "faithful faith?"

Thank you all, these contemplations have kept me very much at peace this week at work. What a blessing this has been!

Yes, indeed, faith in Holy One and Messiah, faith in Tzaddik, faith in Anointed Community, these are the three pillars of faith; and joined with faith in the Holy One and Messiah, faith in Tzaddik and Community is essential, for this brings faith and hope in the possibility of our enlightenment and liberation, our embodiment of the Holy Spirit and conscious unification with the Messiah in the Eternal One.

We may say this, surrounding Tzaddik and Community there is a field of divine or enlightened energy - Shekinah of Messiah, and entering into that radiance of Tzaddik and Community we are uplifted, and we are blessed and empowered, all according to our faith. Our faith, itself, may be bolstered and increased, for to share the good company of people of faith encourages and empowers faith.

Of course, having faith in the Holy One and Messiah, and Tzaddik and Community, and cleaving in faith and love, we are unified with Anointed Community and the Shekinah of the Messiah rests upon us; through Divine Grace we may receive influxes of Yesod and Malkut of Atzilut, and through them, influxes of the upper Sefirot of Atzilut, all as El Elyon ordains.

Now concerning “faithful faith,” this is the ‘faith’ of the Holy One, and faith of the Messiah, and faith of the Holy Tzaddik - the faith of those who embody Supernal or Messianic Consciousness; and more so, for the sake of understanding, this is the manifestation of faith in the eternal realm, the World-That-Is-Coming. In this world, who can speak of such faith, other than to say such faith is perfect!

We may say this, however, as we know there is Simply Mercy and Abundant Mercy, Simple Mercy, the mercy that is invoked through the prayers of the faithful, and more so the tzaddikim, Abundant Mercy, the mercy invoked through prayers of God praying to God - the Messiah praying to the Holy One, and so also the indwelling Messiah in great tzaddikim praying; and we may say that “faithful faith” corresponds with Abundant Mercy, or God praying to God.

As for movements of faith, or movements of the Holy Spirit through faith, there are outward and there are inward movements of faith, certainly so! The essential movement of faith, though, is inward, in prayer and meditation, in kavvanah (conscious intention) and cleaving (devekut), for any outward movement of faith, when good and true, comes from an inward movement, from inwardness - living within.

In closing we can share this. When there is a maturation of faith, when faith is full and there is no weakness, no doubt, in prayer and meditation anything can be accomplished through a simple conscious intention, or silent volition; hence, what Adonai Yeshua said at the outset of his prayer when raising St. Eleazar (Lazarus) from the dead, that there was no need for words, but that he prayed aloud with words so that the faith of those present might be bolstered and they might have knowledge of what transpired on that day, understanding that it was a mighty act of the One God, the Infinite and Eternal.

Very much enjoying these contemplations, Praise the Holy Spirit for this dance in mystery!

Recently in our chat discourse we explored John 3:(19-21) "This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but people loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil. Everyone who does evil hates the light, and will not come into the light for fear that their deeds will be exposed. But whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God."

As I have read through and contemplated what is shared in this thread I was drawn back to this verse in John and led to a certain question. Here in John specifically there is a discussion revolving around deeds that are done in the light verses deeds that thought to be hidden from God, hence in the darkness. I say "thought to be hidden from God" because obviously nothing is hidden, it is the thought that something is hidden that causes the judgement. This discussion revolving around deeds mentions "whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God". Hence, living in the truth is a living that takes up deeds done fully in the light, living without regret. or without judgement. I am hearing in this discussion of faith that we are talking about this kind of living. In the verse quoted from Hebrews it is said, "so what is seen was made from things that are not visible". So too here in John there is an idea of what is thought to be hidden really being seen, that nothing is hidden. Can we say the deeper our faith grows the deeper this understanding of nothing being hidden becomes rooted in our being?

This takes me further to the exchange between faith and knowledge and the mentioning of Ruach, our intelligence. It seems what is thought to be hidden in this life comes from a mentality that dwells mostly in Nefesh, this being a mentality that only perceives immediate surroundings, a mentality that has a very limited view. Our Neshamah on the other hand has a view rather like the view of an eagle, an expansive perspective, a connecting perspective. Is it correct to say save for Ruach there is no connection between what is immediate in our experience, Nefesh, and what expands within and beyond our immediate experience, Neshamah? Faith and Knowledge appear rooted in both the moment of "now" and a spectrum that embraces past and future, meaning Nefesh and Neshamah joined. If these are not joined in Ruach then a false perception of our lives "hidden" from the Light of the Holy One appears to come into being, hence a diminishing of faith, hence the judgement. In this a question of Ruach arises. We know Ruach to correspond with the six Sefirot on the Tree of Life, Hesed through Yesod. Can it be said, in the actualization of Ruach, which is at the same time a joining of Neshamah and Nefesh, we are literally coming into being through cleaving to these six? That these six attributes are responsible for what joins our physical appearance with our Supernal Being? This that joins a limited idea of self existing at a point in time space with a Self that exists in a spectrum that is well beyond this limited idea.

O Holy One of Being let us pray this day for an influx of faith among the people and the land, that many may be strengthened this day! Amen and Amen

Yes, indeed, the faithful, who are aware of God and experience the presence of God in their lives, are aware that there is nothing hidden from the “sight” of God or presence and God, and in this faith there is a natural fear of the Lord and love of the Lord, fear, wishing to do nothing to remove themselves from the presence of God, and love, a passionate yearning for greater nearness and unification. Thus, living according to their faith they love God, the True Light, and seek to enact what is good and true, what is in harmony with the Holy Light and Spirit of God, and in so doing they will live without regret, and having forgiveness of sin, they live free from judgment, abiding in a communion with Christ in God, rejoicing in the presence of the Lord, light and life.

Now as has been said, through faith we are able to reach into the Holy Sefirot, and potentially even into the Supernals, and likewise, through faith we are able to reach into various aspects, gradations of soul, even into yechidah and hayyah. Understand, it is through reaching into higher, inner, aspects of the soul that we are able to reach into higher, inner, manifestations of the Sefirot; hence, our reaching into the Sefirot is dependent upon our faith and the progressive realization of our soul, our being as we are in the Light Continuum and Holy One.

Thus, the influxes of the Sefirot, or the Holy Light and Spirit, that we are able to invoke and receive are dependent upon the realization of the soul within us, and the grade of the soul that we have actualized and realized, and embody. In the Sanctuary of Grace there are, of course, movements of Divine Grace, the Holy Spirit, that elevate our soul beyond our present realization and that may bring about greater influxes, opening the way for an evolution of our spiritual realization, a new grade of realization in the Messiah; if and when there is faith and love, and we live according to our faith, and we co-labor with the Spirit, “always seeking a better resurrection,” so through the Spirit we can reach even further than our present grade, such is the boundless mercy and compassion of the Holy One.

Here the Spirit inclines me to share a teaching concerning gradations of the soul, and in it perhaps we may see how even from nefesh it is ordained that we can reach into lofty places with the help of the Spirit of God.

Perhaps you may recall that within each of the five aspects of the soul, nefesh, ruach, neshamah, hayyah and yechidah, there are all five aspects, and therefore a total of 25 gradations of soul. All of these aspects, grades, of soul hold all five, and therefore we may speak of 125 gradations of soul. Just as the Holy Sefirot correspond with worlds within worlds, universes within universes without end, so also the aspects of the soul, there is being within being within being extending into the Infinite and Eternal without end. In general, though, we hold our contemplation of the aspects or grades of soul to 125, and most often speak just in the context of 25 aspects or grades of soul.

Having these grades of soul in mind, within nefesh there is nefesh of nefesh, ruach of nefesh, neshamah of nefesh, hayyah of nefesh and yechidah of nefesh, and therefore within nefesh itself, within our very person and life, there is something of yechidah, our unique essence or divine spark, and with the realization of nefesh something of yechidah may be accessed and realized at the level of nefesh. Understand, yechidah has all five aspects, yechidah of yechidah, hayyah of yechidah, neshamah of yechidah, ruach of yechidah and nefesh of yechidah. The yechidah of nefesh emanates from the nefesh of yechidah, and therefore the inmost aspect of our nefesh reaches into nefesh of yechidah. The same is true of all aspects of the soul, all have a corresponding aspect of yechidah in them, and all reach into their corresponding aspect of yechidah, and so it is with all other aspects of the soul, there is the deep interconnection between all of the various grades or aspects of the soul. Thus, given what we have shared of something of yechidah within nefesh, even at the grade of nefesh through faith, with the help of the Spirit, there can be a reaching into very lofty and holy places. Naturally, though, as ruach is realized, and as neshamah is realized, there is a reaching into far loftier and holier places, and there are greater and greater corresponding influxes of the Sefirot, or the Holy Light and Spirit, that are invoked and received, certainly so!

At the level of nefesh, as ruach of nefesh is realized, something of the influxes of the Six can be received corresponding with ruach of nefesh, but the full influxes of the Six are able to be received with the realization of ruach proper, nefesh and ruach being unified, ruach fully brought into nefesh and nefesh fully uplifted into ruach, and this opens the way for the greater influence of neshamah to enter and for the realization of neshamah, our heavenly soul, our divine or enlightened nature. In nefesh, though, as with yechidah, there is something of neshamah and something of neshamah can be accessed, and so also in ruach, there is something of neshamah and something of the neshamah can be accessed, a greater manifestation of neshamah than in nefesh.

This, of course, corresponds with various gradations of the reaching of the soul into the Sefirot and Olamot, and as we have said, through Divine Grace, the Holy Spirit, it is possible that we may reach well beyond our present grade, opening the way for radical leaps in the evolution and realization of our soul in the Messiah. Faith is the essential key for this, faith and love, and in this way knowledge is increased, and we may acquire understanding and wisdom, true enlightenment.

As you point out many people live in a state of nefesh behamit, the bestial soul, completely identified with the flesh and desires of the flesh, and with name and form, and persona history, and faithless, they are unaware of the soul that is within them, their greater meta-dimensional being, and unaware of their source, the Holy One of Being; in effect they live as beasts of the field, living for immediate self-gratification and in vital reaction, chasing after the world and things of the world, literally, for the most part, loving darkness and the unreal, not the light and the real, or God. This is also true of many who claim to have faith, who pursue manmade religions and their limited, dogmatic doctrines, but who are, in truth, lacking in faith and love, and live cut off from the deeper, inner aspects of the soul, and so, in effect, live in a state removed from the presence of the Holy One. Even in the midst of religions for the masses, however, if true faith and love emerge, so souls will be uplifted by the Spirit of God and greater spiritual progress will be made, and such souls will acquire knowledge of God that goes well beyond the doctrine of their religion.

You see, though in effect cut off from the inner aspects of soul, and unaware of God within and around them, nevertheless these aspects are within and behind their person and life, and likewise, nevertheless, God is within them and around them; at any time it is possible that the greater light of their soul might shine from within them and they might seek God and return to God - at any time faith could spark and love could dawn, for there is a spark of goodness and holiness in all people, and God has love for all people, God loves the whole world and seeks the salvation of all, the gathering of all into Godself.

Here we may recall that the inmost aspect of souls, yechidah, is inseparable from the Light of the Infinite and the Eternal One (Yahweh), and something of that inmost aspect of the soul is even within the outermost aspect, nefesh, so something of this true spiritual being is present for all who desire to receive and realize it, and the Holy Spirit is present to help all who are willing to a co-labor, all who actively seek to return to God, the Infinite and Eternal One.

May the Holy One bless you and keep you, and gather you in this very day! Amen.

Thank you to the Living Spirit, and this wise community, for such beautiful wisdom.

I’ve recently read about a subtlety in kinds of faith that I feel fits well within the present discussion.

Rabbi Aryeh Kaplan (in Inner Space) shares that Netzach and Hod each represent a kind of Faith (Emunah). The faith associated with Hod is the faith received by submitting to the authority of a tradition or teachers. The faith associated with Netzach is the faith we gain through our own understanding and personal relationship with God. These aspects of faith are expressed well in the litergical line: "Our God and the God of our fathers”: “Our God” being the faith that flows from our own experience; and “God of our fathers” being the faith which flows from testimony and teachings.

The two are obviously meant to be complementary: Faith in the wise teachings of a living tradition opens the way for a deeper Self-experience; and personal revelation is most beneficial (and safest) when it is grounding in a living tradition and wise teachers. While there is a deep and important dance between the two, Rabbi Kaplan writes that the faith represented by Netzach is of superior kind, and is the faith that God first and foremost wishes us to have and to live by.

I feel in this teaching there is another way of expressing the ideas outlined above about the interaction between knowledge and faith. Would I be right to say, that the knowledge (Da’at) we can learn from another is inevitably partial, representing only what they can communicate of a mostly incommunicable experience. The image of Buddha pointing at the moon comes to mind. But the faith that flows from our own continuum of prayer, self-study and meditation (importantly directed by a living teacher and tradition) can/will be fed from a fountain that has its roots beyond Da’at - in the incommunicable source?

Rabbi Kaplan also mentions the story of Jacob wrestling the Angel in this context of two faiths. The Angel, he writes, represents the evil that the tribes of Jacob will encounter in the future. In the struggle Jacob’s left thigh is wounded. Netzach and Hod are associated with the legs, and so the damaged left thigh (Hod) comes to signify the great difficulties the children of God will face from their over dependency on Hod-faith (tradition) without the necessary balancing that comes with Netzach-faith (Gnosis). Is this not the most wonderful Kabbalistic allegory for the serious barriers of unspiritual-religion we often speak of?

I wonder if more might be shared about how we can continue to develop skilfulness in managing the balance between these two faiths? And also, I feel there must be more to say about the play between Netzach and Hod as aspects of faith, and the reception of Da’at as knowledge. Is there a deeper relationship between Netzach in particular and the reception of Habad that might be shared?

May we all remember, and swiftly take shelter in, the three-fold source of faith: Tzaddik, Gospel and Community!

First, understand that correspondence of Netzach and Hod to faith are unified in Yesod, and this is reflected in Malkut being called “emunah,” faith; also understand that there is another balance of faith on the Tree of Life, for faith is attributed to Keter as well as Malkut, and something similar regarding a twofold manifestation of faith plays out between them.

First and foremost, indeed, there is faith in the Holy One, and love for the Holy One, but for the realization of faith in the Holy One, and the acquisition of Habad, wisdom, understanding and knowledge, there is a need for living tradition, Tzaddik and Community, for tzaddik and community are the vehicle of light transmission in this world, initiation and empowerment, as well as teachings - the word of the Eternal One (Yahweh), through which we acquire our spiritual education, our initial knowledge and understanding of the Holy One, and how to draw near and cleave to the Holy One.

The degree, however, to which we are able to receive teachings and initiation, and the transmission of the da’at and ruach of the tzaddik, or the knowledge and power of their realization, will depend upon our faith in the Messiah and Holy One, and will depend upon the cultivation of our own interior life, our cleaving to the Messiah and Holy One, and our communion with the Holy Shekinah. Understand, there are many gradations of light transmission, spiritual and supernal, and there are many gradations of transmission of da’at and ruach, from the outermost to the inmost, and the inmost corresponds with perfect kavvanah (concentration) and perfect devekut (cleaving, merging), for in the inmost grade of light transmission, or the full transmission of the da’at and ruach of tzaddikim, the tzaddik and their companion disappear, as it were, passing into complete self-nullification, self-transcendence, in the Holy Light and Spirit, and in their soul they merge in the Holy Shekinah and Spirit, experiencing oneness with the presence of the Eternal One (Shekinah of Yahweh); hence, the companion, the disciple, enters into something of the very same realization as the tzaddik, receiving something of the same anointing, and so comes into being as tzaddik. Understand, in a moment of inmost light transmission there is only the Holy One, the Holy Light and Spirit, One Living Presence - there is no other! In this these two modes of faith discussed by beloved Rabbi Kaplan become one and the same, inseparable from one another; but Kaplan’s teaching makes a very important point, for while, indeed, we are to have faith in tzaddik, and in the teachings and transmissions of living lineage, it is not to the personality of the tzaddik that we cleave, but rather to the Holy Tzaddik within them, the Messiah and Holy Spirit in them, and likewise we do not get bound up in teachings as dogmatic doctrines to be blindly believed and followed, but rather we seek to enter into the direct spiritual and mystical experience from which they arise, the ongoing living revelation from which they flow. In the end it is all about faith in the Holy One and returning to the Holy One, the Great Ascension and reintegration with the Light of the Infinite - enlightenment and liberation.

Such salvation, or enlightenment and liberation, however, is not a vicarious affair as so often taught in manmade religion, or mainstream Christianity, but rather it is participatory, there is a work of salvation to be done, and we must engage in an active and dynamic surrender to the Messiah and Holy Spirit, and the guidance and instruction of the Holy Tzaddik; hence, we must live according to our faith, and we must take up the Life Divine with full zeal, having complete faith in the Holy One and passionate love for the Holy One, and therefore love for our neighbor, love for all our relations, all sentient beings. This naturally leads to a complete self-offering, the Great Gesture of enlightenment that brings about the Great Liberation, the fulfillment of the inmost desire of our holy neshamah.

Now, there is faith as Malkut and there is faith as Keter, one the faith in This World and the other the faith in the World-To-Come. Faith, corresponding with the Supernal Crown is “amen” in “emunah,” and this corresponds with the perfection of faith, the complete unification of faith and knowledge, or rather, faith and Habad - in this experience of faith truth (amet) just is, and it is known as it is, the Eternal One is known as the Eternal One Is within the eternal realm, the Supernal Abode. Although faith associated with Keter corresponds with the experience of faith in the World-That-Is-Coming, in that on Shabbat we may glimpse and taste something of the World-To-Come, and so also in the deepest state of hitbodedut, and likewise a moment of inmost light transmission, so in remembering and keeping the Holy Shabbat we may touch upon something of this perfect faith in Shabbat.

These were a few further teachings on faith I was inclined to share this morning; on this Day of Rest may faith increase! Amen.